Lost time is never found again. ~ Benjamin Franklin
MAJOR VIEWS/PHILOSOPHIES IN THE STUDY OF HISTORY
CYCLICAL VIEW
PROVIDENTIAL VIEW
PROGRESSIVE VIEW OR LINEAR VIEW
RELATIVIST VIEW
CYCLICAL VIEW History All
repeats itself.
human events occur in cycles.
Famous
exponents were Herodotus
and Spengler.
HERODOTUS Father
First
of History
historian - to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a well-constructed and vivid narrative.
OSWALD SPENGLER German
historian and philosopher
PROVIDENTIAL VIEW History It
is determined by God.
consists of recording the death
struggle between good and evil. It
is widespread during the Middle
Ages.
ST. AUGUSTINE
Man relegated to the role of the pawn in a game of high stakes.
PROGRESSIVE OR LINEAR VIEW Mankind
as responsible for the advancement of civilization. It places complete faith in human abilities rather than in divine intervention.
Mankind
better.
is getting better and
PROGRESSIVE OR LINEAR VIEW This
view holds that each new generation should build upon the achievements of the preceding; it must be better because it has more with which to start.
PROGRESSIVE OR LINEAR VIEW Vico,
Leibnitz, and Marx were leading exponents.
RELATIVIST VIEW History
classifies and groups together facts about the past in of current needs or contemporary concerns.
“History
creates its own subject”.
RELATIVIST VIEW “Each
new situation implies a reinterpretation of the past. – thus, relationship o the past is in a constant state of change(Dumont).
This
implies the subjective nature of the historical knowledge.
RELATIVIST VIEW History
doesn’t deal with causal analysis. – “cause-and-effect relationship” – but on discourse.
This
view states that one does not have a fixed theory or fixed position against which historical data could be measured.
"We study the past to understand the present; we understand the present to guide the future." - William Lund
THANK YOU!